OTTAWA — The French ambassador to Canada says the ruthless slaughter of innocent people in Paris should not harden the hearts of nations towards millions of legitimate refugees fleeing war the Middle East.
At the same time, Nicolas Chapuis says consultations will take place in western capitals over the next few days on how the world can rise up collectively against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Chapuis was careful not to comment on the Trudeau government's planned refocusing of the country's military mission in Iraq and Syria away from combat, but said Friday's attacks were an assault on the whole world.
Former defence minister Jason Kenney and even some U.S. presidential hopefuls have mused about the possibility of France asking NATO to invoke its Article 5 self defence clause, which says an attack on one nation is an attack every alliance member.
Chapuis says he doesn't know yet whether the brutal attacks rise to that level, but noted President Francois Hollande called them and an "act of war."
Even still, he says there are going to be people who will use the bloodbath as a pretext for doing less about the Syrian refugee crisis and the west should not stop opening its arms to the first victims of the "barbarians."
